A huge disparity in job recovery between advanced and developing economies poses a threat to the world global economy, the International Labour Organisation warned on Wednesday.
The agency is projecting that global hours worked this year will be 4.3 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, the equivalent of 125 million full-time jobs. This is a dramatic revision of the projection made in June of 3.5 per cent or 100 million full-time jobs.
The eighth edition of the ILO Monitor, ‘COVID-19 and the world of work’, also warned of a “great divergence” between developed and developing countries, saying it will persist without concrete financial and technical support.
In the absence of any vaccines, globally, the loss in hours worked would have stood at six per cent in the second quarter of 2021, rather than the 4.8 per cent recorded.
According to ILO, the imbalances could be rapidly addressed through greater global solidarity in respect of vaccines. The agency estimated that if low-income countries had more equitable access to vaccines, working-hour recovery would catch up with richer economies in just over one quarter.
ILO director-general, Guy Ryder, highlighted the unequal vaccine distribution and fiscal capacities saying that “both need to be addressed urgently.”
He pointed to the Global Call to Action for a human-centred COVID-19 recovery, a roadmap adopted last year by the International Labour Conference that commits countries to ensure that their recovery is fully inclusive, sustainable and resilient.
“It is time to implement this roadmap, which is fully aligned with and supports the UN’s Common Agenda and its Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection,” Mr Ryder said.
